My world goes black
by Betusta Morla
Summary: AU! The darkness is always behind any big decision in the ninja world. His world is deepening in black a little more every day, he is a ghost, dust in the wind. And now he has tree lives in front of him, waiting to learn were theirs paths go. Can he show them the right path? Will they light up his world a little more before the end? Itachi as a teacher in Konoha
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is a story that had been in my head for a while, I'm not sure if I will continue it. Anyway English isn't my first language so fill free to point any errors. Cover image by YingandYang2011 of deviantart. Enjoy the story!**

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Uchiha Itachi was sitting in the empty classroom waiting for his new students. This would be his first team. For the information that he had read about of his new students, one was the descendant of the Nidaime Hokage, he probably was the strongest of the three genin. Then there where the other two, one Inuzuka and an Uchiha, they had been put in the same team because they all have great potential. That's why they had been trusted to him, but he didn't think he would do them any good. But after the attack of Orochimaru to the village there had been a considerable decrease in the number of ninjas, so there weren't many available teachers or qualified for the job.

And when he had been gone in one of the missions his little brother had go with Orochimaru to achieve more power to kill him and what was left of the Uchiha clan. He passed his index finger by his scratched headband. It was the same headband that he had used since back then…

_**Five years ago…**_

_It was midnight and the half-moon lighted the Hokage's office, he was kneeled in front of the Sandaime. "So, are you saying that part of the clan isn't happy about how things are turning out? Then we can use that to try and stop them without using force."_

"_Yes Hokage-sama."_

"_But we still need time."_

"_I will win all that I can."_

…

_It couldn't be stopped, it was mean to happen. The side of the clan that didn't want to go against the village fought their own blood. He had taken the choice of protect what he could, even if that means to kill his family…_

…...

…..

…

…..

…

The massacre had been told to be an internal dispute for the power of the clan that one night had turned into a fight between two ninjas turning in to a battle field; only fifteen survived counting him and his brother. Everyone believed it. After all it wasn't weird in clans to happen. The village had been silent and the sky grey for a long time. After that he had been doing ANBU missions out of the village most of the time, he had become a shadow; it was almost like he had been dead all those years. He hadn't seen his brother since back then, and he wanted to make sure that he hated him and not the village.

Of the survivors, all where young, the oldest was just a few years older than him. All had been of the side of the clan that stayed of the village side or their childes. There couldn't been even one survivor of the ones that wanted war, not even childes if they were against the village they would be erased. Only his brother was allowed to live, and for that he looked all the other Uchiha as the murderers of his family.

And now that he had become a rouge ninja, and who knows what he would be capable of do now. God knows he took bad decisions and now his brother will pay for them, and the sins of his clan to. The only thing he had left to do was make sure to keep the truth hidden, so the clan could keep the honor they still have.

It had been three weeks ago that the Godaime Hokage had decided that he should leave the ANBU forces, and become a regular jounin, something that didn't exited him at all. He sighed and looked at the watch it had already been half hour. So he decided to go search for them.

It was a boring day in the academy of Konohagakure, or at least would be if today wasn't the day in which they will know who will be in their teams and meat the jounin that will lead their team. Iruka-sensei was standing in his usual place with a list in his right hand.

Probably the most part of the kids will return to the academy. All were so stupid! They didn't know what kind of life a shinobi had. The most of them will quit before even become chunin, and the half of the ones that stayed will end up dead. Of the other half that managed to survive, only a few will be jounin.

Anyway he didn't care who will come to be enough skilled to survive and become a jounin or even chunin. The only thing that he hoped was that he didn't ended up with the worst ones…

"Senju Heike, Inuzuka Yuki and Uchiha Tomoe will be team 4" Great, the Inuzuka that was completely clueless and the good for nothing Uchiha girl, this couldn't be better! -Read the sarcasm kids- Well maybe it could be worst, but he didn't want to think how it could be. Well if they had being put in the same team, it was for a good reason right?

"Now that you all know who your teammates are, after lunch you will know your supervisor. You all know that the lunch time last one hour." Said Iruka-sensei looking at the clock that marked twelve o'clock and looked back at the far corner of the room where the Uchiha girl was. "Please don't be late."

When he was living the classroom a bunch of his fan girls blocked his way. "Would you eat lunch with me?" asked one of them "No way, his going to eat with me!" screamed other "Hey, don't even think so! I looked him first!"

"Pleas girls" say Heike with his charming smile "it would be unfear to eat with any of you, because I can't have favorites!" all girls make a shriek.

"Why don't you eat with us?" asked a male voice from behind him "After all we will be a team since now on." It was the Inuzuka boy with the Uchiha girl beside him. _Well anyway that's a good way to get rid of the girls._

"Sorry girls, I need to eat with my new teammates"

All girls send them dagger glances that Yuki ignored or simply didn't notice a thing –he suspected the later-. Tomoe had already leaved the classroom. "Oh! Tomoe-chan leaved me behind! Come new kid." He said going out of the classroom after his teammate.

"Eto…you now we had been in the same class since we were kids, so why are you calling me new?" Heike said.

"Really? I had never seen you before."

_Huh? Really this guy…_ He shrugged it off and followed him outside.

When they were outside they see that the Uchiha was waiting for them under the tree that was in front of the academy.

"So, you are Uchiha Tomoe right?" he asked.

"No, I'm the First Hokage." She said rolling her eyes.

"Then I want to be Siege of six paths!" Said the Inuzuka thinking it was a game.

Both of them stared at him "**Who the hell is that?**" both asked at the same time.

"You don't know?"

"**No**."

"Oh, then let's go eat!" Yuki started to walk to the trees that were beside the stone path.

The remaining two genin looked each other and shrugged, then followed their teammate. They sat to eat under some trees.

"Hey Inuzuka, where's your dog?" asked Tomoe will filling her mouth with rice.

"Mmm…? I don't know, she was beside me this morning, and now she's gone!"

Tomoe and Heike stared at him. "What? She will show up when you less expect it." He said with an innocent smile. "How is possible that someone let him become a shinobi?" Tomoe asked in a whisper.

"Maybe he got something behind that airhead face." Heike answered her "Hey, that dog is eating your lunch."

The said dog had black fur and big pointed ears; it was a little more than half meter high.

"WHAT THE…!?" Tomoe screamed "Give me back my lunch!" the dog growled at her "So you want to fight eh?" she jumped over the dog, and after a moment she was with her face in the ground and the dog sitting in her back eating her lunch.

"Well, that's pathetic." Heike laughed.

"See? I told you she would appear when you less expect it." said Yuki, pulling his dog off her back.

"Your dog eat all my food!" she exclaimed.

"Yes and it was really funny." Heike said, teasingly munching slowly his food, enjoying each piece.

"Sorry I would give you my lunch, but I already eat it all." Yuki said with tears coming to his eyes.

"Eh! Don't cry! It's ok, I'm used to not eating." Tomoe looked how Heike munched his food "You know, you could give me a little."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like you." He said bored "And the someone that let a do eats her lunch right in front of her nose don't deserve to eat."

"I'm going to kill you!" she screamed.

"Can you try to don't be so loud?" he said putting one finger in his ear.

She jumped to kick him in the face, but he only moved and she hit the tree that was behind him. "Gah! It hurts! It hurts!"

"How lame you are."

She tried to attack him again, but Yuki stopped her holding her by the waist. "Calm down, we shouldn't fight between us."

"Leave her, anyway she won't touch me." Heike said pocking her head with his chopsticks.

"Forget it I won't waste my time with you." She said stopping to struggle with Yuki.

"Good! Now I will let you go." Said Yuki letting her go, but in the moment he let her go she punched Heike in the face, or at last she tough she did. A "puff" sound and in his place was a piece of log.

"Kawarimi?" said Yuki a bit surprised.

"That's a trick for cowards!" said Tomoe annoyed.

"No" came the voice of Heike from a nearby tree "is only a technic too advance for you." He said looking how she got nearby from the branch he was sitting.

"_I'm going to kill you._" She singed.

"Hey guys, I think we should go back or we will be late!" Yuki tried to make them stop fighting "And I don't think our sensei will be happy." Both ignored him.

Heike laughed at her, like when you laugh for the lame intent of a little puppy when he tries to bite an older and bigger dog. "You keep trying, but if you can't even beat his dog" he pointed Yuki with his thumb "you won't even be able to make me take you seriously."

"I want to kick the crap out of you, not really kill you anyway."

"Then" his face turned serious and it scared her for a moment and she give a step back "don't say that or I really will end up _killing _you." He ended and then smiled, but it was a fake smile she noticed now.

The smile made her snap of her initial shock "I don't care if you kill me, if it's for the right reason!"

He looked at her with an amused smile. "And, what would be the right reason?"

"When I lose the right path" she said looking him in the eyes.

Yuki looked at her and asked "Why do you say it like is going to happen?"

Heike stared at her, she talked to much about personals stuff to easy to people that she didn't know, probably because she got a big mouth and didn't think what she said. Like she had read his thoughts she laughed and scratched the back of her head "Never mind! I still will make you eat dirt, _Senju_!" she said showing him her tongue. He just rolled his eyes "First defeat the dog, _Uchiha_."

"We are starting to get along don't you think Sumire?" said Yuki smiling.

Tomoe and Heike looked him, with sweat drops falling of their foreheads. "Well at last his dog will be of some help to the team, I think we should replace her for the useless Uchiha" said Heike.

A vein snapped in her head, and all started again.

Itachi found them quiet easily, for all the noise they were doing –mostly Tomoe-. He was watching them from a near tree, they hadn't noticed his presence. The Uchiha had been fighting with the white haired boy, and the Inuzuka was stopping her to keep fighting by holding her by the arms. He sighed; this wasn't going to be easy.

"Let go! I need to kick his ass!" she screamed.

Heike snorted "We both know that you won't be even close." He was leaning his back against a tree smirking mockingly at her.

"We shouldn't fight between each other, we are a team!" Yuki said at her. His dog was sleeping near them, ignoring the screams completely.

For what he could see, the one that would keep most of the balance in the team will be the Inuzuka, for his simple way of looking things, but the other two… He stepped off the tree and landed between them gracefully without a sound. They looked at him stunned for a moment, they stayed in silence and Yuki released Tomoe.

"Now that you are quiet, and paying attention, do any of you know what time it is?" he said coldly.

"Eh, I think it is like two thirty?" Yuki asked, not realizing it was a rhetorical question to: "You weren't even close to be in time, and you are all so dead, because I don't like slacking people that don't have trace of time."

"I will be your teacher, and the next time you come late, don't even bother to come at all." Tomoe swallowed and looked down –she already knew who he was. Yuki looked troubled, and Heike had a blank expression. "Now that you had understood the point, come." He turned and walked not even looked behind to see if they were following. After all he didn't need too, he listened their steps following close behind. Then he remembered he needed to present himself whether they knew who he was or not.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. You don't need to tell me you names. And whatever you want to ask, think it twice before you ask it. I'm not really interested in your life, so while it doesn't affect your performance as a ninja I don't care." He keeps walking to where he would test them. Normally the jounins waited till the next day, but it should not take too long and they were not prepared at all, so that made it more interesting.

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**End of the first chapter! I appreciate any review, but be warned! I reply flames with sarcasm. Till next time,**

**Betusta out ;D**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Ok, here is the second chapter it is longer than I espected. Well sorry for the grammar mistakes, and I would be thankful if you point my mistakes so I can improve my writing! Oh, and I have a little trouble thinking of others oc's for the other teams in the story so if anyone is interested in dropping one I would be grateful!**

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They had been walking near ten minutes when finally Heike got bored and asked where they were going.

"It's just a little ahead." Itachi answered shortly, he didn't want to ruin the surprise.

He was leading them to a cliff made by a river. The task would be easy…if they figured out how to do it. Well, that was the whole point of the test. The sound of the massive cascade that descended into the cliff was clear now, before it had only been a little whisper. He stopped a few feet away from the edge. The genin keep walking and stopped in the very edge looking down in curiosity, to try to understand why they were there.

The cliff at last got fifty meters –like 164 ft.- depth. They stepped back a little, and turned around to look at him, uncertainty reflected on their faces. They were looking at him expectant, waiting for the answer if their unasked question. But he was testing their patience and so he stayed silent.

"What are we doing here?" Tomoe finally asked.

"Are we going to camp?" Yuki asked happily.

Without thinking Tomoe said "Do you think?" waiting for him to not answer.

Itachi looked them interact a little more. It amused him a little looking the carefree kids talk and fight. He hadn't that kind of life at their age, and they too had lived tragic events on their shorts lives; but still managed some kind of happiness, that was the reason why… They probably wouldn't pass the test if they kept like that though, so it was likely he would send them back the Academy. But deep down; he knew that they would react in the right time… probably.

"I hope so, it's so fun!" Yuki kept rambling; making Tomoe put her hand in her forehead regretting trying to mock an airhead. "The last time I did it was only in the forest near my house with Sumire. But it didn't feel like it because I could see the light of my house and there was no one with me except Sumire. But she is always disappearing and…Where is she by the way? Oh well she must be near humph…!" Tomoe stopped his blabbering, putting her hand over his mouth.

"Shut up already!" she said.

"You asked him, so mean." Heike laughed at her.

"How would I know he didn't understand that it meant NO?" she asked annoyed.

"Then you should just have said NO." He shrugged and kept smiling "You know you should think before speaking or acting, you will end up dead really soon if you don't."

Those two last comments stabbed her directly in the head. She looked down and she fell silent. Yuki only looked between his two teammates hoping that the Uchiha girl didn't try to fight with him anymore, but she suddenly looked up again and laughed, which surprised the two boys "You are right!" she said bitterly.

Itachi looked at her for a brief moment, wondering what it meant. He decided to live it for later; after all he didn't want them to get too attached to him and vice versa. And besides there was a great chance they failed so he didn't need to worry for them too long. He sighed and interrupted them moving to take their headbands.

In less than a blink he had their headbands in his hand. They blinked a few times before noticing what had happened.

"Know that you are silent, I will explain the reason of why I bring you here." He made a pause and looked at the headbands in his right hand "Do you know what means to have this?" he asked them throwing the headbands up and catching them again.

"It is a symbol that we are ninjas of the leaf." Heike answered.

Itachi smiled and tossed the three headbands down the cliff. The three genin looked at him shocked. "Then earn it and go for them." He paused slightly before begin with the explanation "As you may know, only a few genin that graduated of the Academy will be taken by Jounins, the others will go back to the Academy. So it's up to the Jounin to see who will stay or go back, all are submitted to a different test selected by the Jounin that was selected for them. Normally the test would be made tomorrow to let you be more prepared, but I don't share the point of view of others."

"But we already had a test in the Academy!" Yuki said.

"Yes, that was to see who had the potential to become a ninja. Now you will prove that you actually _can_. This test is simple, go down there and retrieve your headbands. And do it before the dawn." There was still one hour for the down. He tossed three kunai at their feet. They got stabbed in the floor, one in front of each genin. "This is all the equipment you'll get to use, besides the Jutsus that you already know."

"That sounds easy…" Heike said. Yuki got near the edge again and looked down to try and see the bottom and headbands, but couldn't see anything; it was peach black down there. He gulped and stepped back again.

"Don't fall behind Yuki." Heike said to him noticing that he was scared.

Yuki looked at him and nodded. He walked to the kunai and picked it up, so the other two. When they were just about to start going down their sensei talked again. "And the last two to make it back will go back to the Academy."

With that Tomoe and Heike looked between each other for a brief second and started to jump between the rocks to reach the bottom, shortly followed by Yuki. Itachi walked to the edge and looked them go he waited a moment before speaking. "Is there something you need?"

"Is that how you welcome your friends?" Hana jumped from a near tree.

"If you walked normally and grated me like a normal friend, I would great you like such. In place of following me around like an assassin." He said with a light smirk.

"Of course you noticed that I was following you." She muttered more to herself than to him. "I came to see that you don't kill those poor children."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Don't worry, they will be fine. If they can't make it out of there then they probably give up on the ninja life."

She snorted and crouched near the edge. "Are you so eager to get read off them? And you give them the cold shoulder back then." The truth was that she was passing by when she spotted Itachi and his new team walking behind him, so she had heard what he coldly told them.

"I don't think I will make them any good. And by what I had seen, they don't have what it's needed to pass this simple test."

Hana chuckled "If is a test that you made then it's not _simple_. And I don't think you should underestimate them."

"We'll see…"

They had reached the bottom really fast. Heike spotted the headbands when they were just a few meters above the bottom. It was kind of hard to see down there as the opening above them was only seven meters. and only a little of light go inside of the cliff. But they were easy to see as they reflected the dim light. Twenty meters to their right there was an enormous waterfall that made a river run wildly in the depth of the cliff, the river continued and fall by a hole that was in the opposite direction of the waterfall. The river probably kept running underground for a few miles before seeing the day light again.

Luckily the headbands had fall to a side of the river. He looked to the side to see the Uchiha girl land a few feet away from him, and Yuki behind him. He wondered for what the kunai really was, maybe to attack the other two? Or maybe help him climb faster? –Remember the beginning genins can't climb trees or walls with chakra.- He shrugged and jumped quickly over the river to the other side.

Tomoe hadn't spotted the headbands, but she followed after Heike, as he probably knew where they were. She briefly watched over her back to see Yuki standing behind, she shrugged it off and focused on landing. She crouched beside one of the headbands and was about to grab it when she heard a scream behind her, muffled by the running water, she only manage to grasp the part of "…explosive tag…!" before she was send flying backwards by an explosion wave. She covered her face with her arms before crashing against the cold stones of the other side of the river, with a loud crack! _That sounded ugly…_ she thought before blacking out.

Yuki stayed behind, his instincts warned him that there was something wrong. He searched for something out of normal, and sensed a tiny accumulation of chakra in the rocks beside the headbands. "Watch out! There is an explosive tag there!" he screamed to his teammates before the tag explode.

He covered his face with his left arm by reflex to avoid the little rocks that could get into his eyes. He could still watch Heike jump back at his warning and forming hand seals some kind of water technic to cover from the explosion. By the other side Tomoe was closer to the tag and was slower to react, and she fainted after crashing against the rocks. He run to her to see how bad she was, he reached her and turned her to see her face. _Good, she's breading without trouble._ He inspected her, there were no bones broken, only her left arm was dislocated.

"You are better than I tough with first aid." Heike had approached them. He had the three headbands in his hand. And was socked wet to the feet.

"Why are you so wet?" Yuki asked.

"Hmm? Oh, I jumped to the river to catch them." He moved the hand in which he had the headbands.

"Where are your ninken?" Itachi asked.

"They stayed at home. They stole meat from the kitchen so they are grounded." She said waving it off.

He chuckled "I told you that you couldn't handle them when they grew bigger."

She growled at him "It won't happen again! They are still young."

"If you say so…" he made the snake seal and the depths were lighted for a moment followed by a boom.

Hana turned to him with a reproaching look "Seriously? Explosive tags?!"

He said nothing, and kept his gaze down the cliff, looking the genins react. He could see how Heike made a water wall to protect of the explosion; it was a really hard jutsu for a genin. Heike turned on the air and fell gracefully in his feet at the other side of the river. The headbands had jumped in the air into the river and were taken by the strong current. Heike hadn't lose track of them at any time,- Itachi wasn't surprised to see that he was skillful- without thinking he jumped in the river behind the headbands, he resurfaced a few meters away getting out of the river and walked to his teammates. He had taken the other two headbands; he didn't let them go with the current, as he tough he would, to try to avoid the competition of the other two. Surly he had already figured out there would be more traps above, and he would need all the help he could manage.

"What will you do?" Hana talked again.

"About what?"

"If they pass you crazy test…" she trailed off.

He contemplated it for a moment. The possibility was there, whether he liked it or not. Of course he couldn't turn them down; he had already tried several times, but the Godaime would not listen. He knew that the elders waited great things of the team he trained and they weren't current genins either. Bing their teacher was more than show them a few jutsu or how to do a mission correctly, he needed to show them the right path so they didn't fall in darkness; like his brother had. He wasn't sure if he could, they could turn in ninjas that wanted, enjoyed war, the futile bloodshed. And the power they could manage to achieve… To start a war it only was needed one person.

"Are you afraid?" Hana interrupted his toughs, her face serious "Of sending them by a wrong path?"

"They will become powerful." He knew she could read him better than anyone.

Hana looked at him and sit on the cliff edge, letting her legs hung free. "Yes, if you don't become their teacher someone else will…" she said that with a lot of seriousness, he turned to her. She was looking at the sky, but her gaze was far away. "They have good potential to just let them untrained."

"Someone more experienced than me would be better."

"Yes; if someone that believes that those kids will be good ninjas or weapons, someone that won't see them as a whole person, either by negligence or simply because they couldn't see it in time." He knew that she could see what troubled him, but still only because she said that it didn't make it true.

"Are you referring to Kakashi or the Sandaime?" he turned to look at the genins again. Kakashi and the Sandaime Hokage had failed to make one of their students go the right path.

"If you want to see them as examples… But if there is someone that can do it, it's you. I am sure." He turned to her again, the way she had said it wasn't to try and make him feel better; she actually believed it. And -even if he didn't like to admit it- it made him felt a lot calmer. She turned to him and smiled.

"Come on Yuki, leave her there, she's death weight." Heike said.

"But we have to help her!" he didn't want to leave her behind.

Heike sighed "I already bring the headband to her; that is enough help for her. And with that arm she will only fall and die, she's already lost." Heike had sensed the tag too, but a just when he was at the other side of the river, and had enough time to jump back unlike the unconscious girl. He wanted Yuki to help him detect them but he wouldn't leave her behind. He sighed. "Okay, let's do this quickly." He walked to the river and sink inside one of the headbands, he walked back to them again and squished it over her face, making her open her eyes and start coughing.

"What the…?!" she flinched when she felt the pain in her arm.

"Oh! Tomoe-chan, take it easy, we need to fix your arm." Yuki graved her good arm "Don't worry it's only dislocated."

"Only? Shit!" she raised and moved her shoulder trying to move it "It feels kind of funny…" she muttered to herself.

"You had luck that it was your arm and not your neck." Heike said smiling.

She looked at him with an eyebrow raised "Thanks for you good wishes." Heike looked at Yuki that was behind her and give a slight node with his head, at which surprisingly Yuki seemed to understand and nodded back.

"You're welcome, but let's stop wasting time." Heike graved her right shoulder and pushed her down; she was too surprised to think in anything.

"What are you doing?!"

Yuki graved her left arm, and with a quick movement he put the bone back in the right place. Tomoe screamed, but stayed still until both boys released her. She closed and opened her hand a few times, then looked at them. "Thanks for not leaving me behind and all the other stuff."

"We couldn't leave you behind!" Yuki said.

"Yuki's right," Heike said, which surprised shortly the other two "we need cannon fodder to go up and disable a few traps." Tomoe twitched and eyebrow.

"There are more traps?" Yuki asked, feeling down and a little afraid.

"Of course, it was too simple to just get down here and back up. That paper tag was just the beginning." Heike explained "We could try and race each other to the top, but that won't work. There for sure are many traps on the way, and not only tags that have can be detected by the little amount if chakra they got, there must be kunai hidden that are activated with thread that is hardly seen down here. Who knows what other things are in the path up…"

"So we should team up? And near the top fight each other to be the first?" Tomoe asked suspiciously "You probably are trying to use us and be able to get out."

"Heike wouldn't do that." Yuki said naïvely, Tomoe glared at him, _Is he really that fool?_

Heike smiled at them "Good, you're getting a bit more perceptive. I was planning on leaving you behind and climbing only with Yuki, you were useless enough with two good arms."

She frowned and clenched her teeth at the insult. "I can make it better than you with only one arm!"

"I would like to see that." He said with a charming smile that only made her more furious.

They were fighting again, at the way they were going they wouldn't make it on time. "They won't make it on time." He stated.

Hana sighed maybe he was right after all? She looked a shadow in the corner of her left eye. She turned and there was a dog walking near the edge. She recognized the dog, it was Sumire. She had heard it between her clan, that there was a dog that could hide her presence completely. A really strange ninken; it was called Sumire… What kind of Inuzuka would call his ninken, Sumire? She tried to picture how silly would sound in a battle.

The dog looked at her eyes for a second and then turned away, searching to her master. Hana looked surprised how agile the dog was, and the intelligence in her gaze. Hana smiled to herself, they would make it; know she knew for sure. She looked at her friend. "You know, I will like to go with your team in a mission someday." She rose from her sitting position and stretched a little "It's getting late, I need to go."

"I don't know why you're so sure that they will make it."

"Woman's instinct?" she said before disappearing between the near trees.

Itachi looked to the sky; there still was one hour for the dawn.

"Sumire!" Yuki said happy while he hugged his ninken. Tomoe was sited down looking at him, and Heike was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. The Uchiha girl had gotten tired of screaming and her arm still hurt. Know that they were calmed down, Heike though it was a good time to start the way up. "Yuki, can you feel any explosive tags this way?" he asked pointing to his right.

Yuki raised his head and sniffed the air for a moment, then walked to the place Heike had pointed and touched the wall. "Ten meters up there is one…but there could be more."

"Fine, the one that goes first must search the right path to avoid the traps or be ready to detonate them. Yuki can't go, for he is the better one to sense paper tags, so I will…"

"I'll do it." Tome said.

"With that arm, you can't!" Yuki said alarmed, "Your arm could dislocate again after such short time!"

"It's ok, besides if I fall there's more possibility for one of you to catch than if I go behind. Besides I'm lighter and can move faster than him."

"But…!"

"She's right, it would be easier for us to react in ways she couldn't." Tomoe huffed at his choice of words, and walked to the place they were standing. "Don't fall behind." She said jumping up.

"We are right behind you." Heike said with a smirk, the way he said it made shivers run her back.

"Come Sumire! Or they will leave us behind." Sumire barked and moved her tail, Yuki smiled and jumped up, his ninken right behind him.

Itachi looked them go up, this time they seemed to work as a team; maybe Hana was right after all… Still it unnerved him that more people could get close to him; he wasn't sure how longer he could resist the sickness that was consuming him. And there are things that he still needed to resolve. He didn't need more things in his list. That was why he had been cold to them, and that was why he would make them give their all, if they made it.

They avoided the explosive tags that were in their path, but the other traps were not so easily detected. They were going up quick, but not for long…

"Stop!" he heard Heike said to Tomoe before a few kunai flayed her way, he had seen how she passed the string that activated the trap. She was in midair, so it would be hard for her to dodge all of them. She moved her upper body to the side to dodge most of them, but there were still three coming her way. Before they hit her, another kunai hit two of them changing they trajectory; the last one was deflected by the girl with her own kunai. They stopped to take a breath.

Itachi smiled, they had reacted nicely; Tomoe was quick and agile, that allowed her dodge more than the other two could have, and Heike had been looking closely waiting for the right moment to act and throw his only kunai if the case presented. Yuki couldn't help, but that was because he was far behind to do it, and probably he couldn't have done it if he was in Heike's place, the Senju had the best reflexes of the three. The safer place was behind and that was why they had positioned him there, for he was the sensor of the team. Thanks to a good formation they would have a better chance to make it; a good formation was something crucial in real missions.

The three genin resumed the way up. They were getting near to other traps, but this time Heike could see the string and throw a kunai to cut it; the kunai was of Tomoe, she had given it to him when they stopped. The trap activated and more kunai flew, Heike speeded and passed Tomoe to catch two kunai. He tossed one to her and fell back at his position again. "You weren't kidding when you said cannon fodder right?" she asked

He only winked at her and smiled.

They were half way up already; the other half would be trickiest, after all there were the last traps. There would be more traps, and would be closer with each other, one may activate another.

"There's another tag there…Maybe more." Yuki informed them.

"We only have left like ten minutes!" Tomoe said "And who know how many more traps there are."

"Then let's hurry." Heike said, he crossed his fingers making the shadow clone jutsu seal, and made two clones. "When I give the signal go up."

"What is the signal?" Yuki asked, to which Heike only smiled. His clones jumped up to where the tags were, there were five paper tags covering a few big rocks, when one of the clones tear it off the rock, all exploded.

"That is the signal!" Tomoe screamed to Yuki, they started to go up, dodging flying rocks; when a part of the wall crumbled over them. Heike moved to left and Yuki, Tomoe and Sumire moved to the right; dodging a big peace of slate that crumbled down. But they didn't have time to catch their breaths as they were hidden kunai traps. Yuki and Tomoe jumped up and Sumire to the side, but it wasn't going to be so easy; a net was released over their heads.

They couldn't dodge the net and the kunai at the same time. But quick as a thunder a furred form flayed over them and took the net away, it was Sumire! But the net tangled around her, not allowing her to move to safety, she would fall. Another kunai trap was released.

"Yuki!" Tomoe warned, but he was too busy saving Sumire of a death fall, he dodged them the best he could but he still got one on his left forearm and another on his right tight.

"Yuki!" Tomoe screamed, Yuki had reached Sumire , he landed but didn't manage to keep balance with the pain of the wounds and he rushed down the cliff, or so he tough; Tomoe had graved his right hand and Sumire was hanging on his left, he looked down they were at last forty meters above the bottom of the cliff. Tomoe screamed for the pain inflict in her harmed arm.

The Uchiha girl had jumped to catch her teammate, but she had hardly managed to stab a rock with her kunai with her right arm, and stop the falling. But the only thing she could think about was in the pain of her left shoulder. Yuki knew that her left arm was heavily injured, and that if she kept like that for a bit longer it would dislocate again, in fact it was lucky that it hadn't dislocated again with the strength of the sudden impact of the halt.

Itachi watched how they were hanging of the wall, she wouldn't manage to keep like that for too long, unless she let the Inuzuka and his dog go the three will fall, but he knew she wouldn't. Or Heike could go and help them, he had dodged all the traps without problems, there were no more traps up, so he had the ten meter path clear to win easily, but he didn't knew it. But if he did leave them behind he would lose anyway, the whole point of this test was teamwork. He watched Heike look at his teammates a brief moment, before he resumed the run.

He sighed, that was it. They would go back to the Academy.

Tomoe was about to slip down, Itachi was about to jump and save them of the fall, when he stopped. He looked Heike jump down quickly and pull Tomoe and the other two up. He had changed of mind in the last minute.

"Maybe they aren't what I expected." He mussed to himself, looking how they were layed huffing for the effort on the rock they were hanging just seconds ago.

He had dodged the traps after the explosions, and now was searching for his teammates. They were hanging from a rock. It was the perfect chance for him to go, before the time was over, the path was clear. He turned and kept advancing, giving them his back, abandoning them…

_In life, we all find a point when we must choose to do what you desire and what you have to do, to sacrifice your dreams and hopes, to see beyond that is what scares us the must. Don't forget…" _I won't forget that you were lire, and I will never be like you.

"Tsk!" was all he muttered before turning to help them.

"You came." Tomoe said in a mix of relief and surprise.

Heike wasn't smiling anymore. "You saved us! Ah, I'm so relieved!"

"I just did what I must." He said coldly

"You look better when you're not with that fake smile." Tomoe said siting up.

"Fake smile?" Yuki asked, but everyone ignored him "Oh! The time's over!" he said looking the sky getting dark.

The other two went silent "And now what?" Tomoe asked looking at her feet; Yuki only patted Sumire's head and waited for the other two to decide.

Heike took a deep breath and looked to the sky, why they always waited for him to have the answers? He looked at them; Yuki was pulling out the kunai off his legs and stopping the bleeding with a piece of cloth that Tomoe handed him –she had tear apart a piece of her shirt. Before putting the cloth in place Sumire licked his wounds, causing Yuki to squirm a little by the tickles.

"_The purpose of the ones with power must be to protect the weaker…"_

Why was all this coming back to him now?

Protect them; that would be his place in this team. Not saving them of every trap or fighting their fights for them, but taking the decisions they couldn't, because they were too dumb or simply because they were afraid, but he wasn't sure that he could always do it right… And besides they would go back to the Academy, so there was no real point, they would not be a team anymore. He looked up and his gaze locked up with the Uchiha Jounin, his eyes were dark and his expression betrayed no emotion.

"And now," he said turning to his teammates "we will finish what we started."

* * *

**That's all for now! I want to thank xchrispx for her review. I do think he was kind of ooc but I hope this chapter explain a little why I did it. But I still do have a little of problems of catching his personality because in the cannon it mostly showed his interaction with Sasuke and little of other characters, so please help me to improve!**

**Betusta out! ;p**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Here is a little information of the characters.  
**

* * *

Uchiha Itachi;

Birthday: June 9 Age: 19

Clan: Uchiha

Clothes: Standard Jounin uniform.

Sunju Heike;

Birthday: 31 Janury Age: 13

Clan: Senju

Hair: White short spiky hair, with a bang that fall down his forehead.

Eyes: Clear brown.

Clothes: Standard shinobi shirt; a gray jacket with the Senju symbol on the back –he normally have it open- and black pants. He carries his headband on his forehead. And use a pair of black gloves with steel plates in the upper part.

Uchiha Tomoe:

Birthday: 1 October Age: 13

Clan: Uchiha

Hair: Black really short hair, she has a bang that fall down to her upper lip, the right side of her face covering it completely.

Eyes: Gray

Clothes: She wears a sky-blue kimono with long tight sleeves, the kimono ends in the middle of her tights. She wears black leggings and uses her headband on her forehead.

Inuzuka Yuki;

Birthday: 21 October Age: 13

Clan: Inuzuka

Hair: Ear long brown hair, he has tree hairclips moving his left bangs out of his face, his always moving his right bangs out of his right eye. And he has the distinctive marks of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks.

Eyes: Dark green.

Clothes: He wears a dark red sleeveless shirt with turtle neck and black baggy pants. He wears his headband around his waist. He always carries a necklace with a fang that was from her mother.

Sumire;

Birthday: 31 October Age: 1

Clan: Inuzuka

Hair: A black, thick and smooth fur.

Eyes: Honey borwn.


End file.
